Waters (NYSE:WAT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Waters (NYSE:WAT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

WAT has been the subject of a number of other reports. TD Cowen raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $408.00 to $475.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $425.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $480.00 in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $424.35.

Waters Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of WAT opened at $414.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.48, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.19. Waters has a one year low of $282.77 and a one year high of $426.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $388.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $349.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. Waters had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 3.58%.The business’s revenue was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. Waters has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.950-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.450-14.650 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waters will post 14.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waters news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.94, for a total transaction of $1,442,930.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,086,515.52. The trade was a 16.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amundi increased its holdings in Waters by 7.5% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 464,501 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $174,206,000 after purchasing an additional 32,355 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise boosted its holdings in Waters by 53.3% during the second quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 47,551 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $17,847,000 after buying an additional 16,542 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Waters by 35,116.4% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,254,036 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $20,347,434,000 after buying an additional 54,099,977 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the 2nd quarter worth about $300,000. Finally, Kintra Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kintra Wealth LLC now owns 1,510 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Waters

Waters Corporation is a global provider of analytical instruments, software and services for laboratory and research applications. The company designs, manufactures and sells technologies centered on liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, separation science, and related sample preparation and detection systems. Its product portfolio includes chromatographs, mass spectrometers, columns and consumables, laboratory informatics and workflow software, as well as technical support and training services that help customers run and interpret complex analyses.

Waters serves a wide range of end markets that include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, contract research and testing laboratories, academic and government research institutions, clinical diagnostics, food and environmental testing, and industrial and chemical manufacturers.